Two companies have integrated their CRM platforms to help key account managers improve their relationships with their largest and most important clients.
The CRM platform is aimed at key account managers who follow a sales strategy of creating long-term associations with high-profile clients to optimize revenues and achieve goals that provide payoff for both companies. The role is critical for many companies that recognize that upselling current clients is far less costly than acquiring new ones – and that they’re more likely to spend more with vendors they already know and trust.
To get it right, though, key account management requires sales executives to understand best practicesOpens a new window , the client’s financial goals and performance as well as the forces from inside and outside their companies that impact their business.
Revegy, a provider of a customer relationship management platform that maximizes revenues, recently formed a platform combination with FinListics, owner of the ClientIQ platform. It offers content and data analytics to key account managers that helps them improve the financial insights of clients and increase their activities within specific industries.
Looking for More Knowledge
Both companies are based in Atlanta, so the alliance makes sense from a geographical perspective. But the firms’ executives say they also are responding to demands from CRM customers looking for something more.
“Today, users and organizations expect integration,†says Melody Astley, a vice president at FinListics. “Sales personnel spend significant time in their CRM systems, so both companies’ technologies integrated on one platform will make their jobs easier and help them reach their targets.â€
In this instance, we have two platforms brought together to create a superior experience for account managers who need both revenue optimization data and client analytics from a single source.
It points to a need by sales managers to map where their important clients are traveling in more detail. It shows that client intelligence is becoming ever more important in the entire CRM process.
Firms such as FinListics, which are well positioned to provide that analysis, will see more requests for collaboration in the months ahead.
Demanding Proof of Insights
As we see artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things begin to have a bigger effect on CRM, we will also see your clients’ decision-makers — the people with whom your sales team will work — demand proof of your insights. Key account managers need to ask themselves if they really understand where their most important clients are headed and whether their company can travel with them.
Key takeaways:
- Key account management is a critical sales area for many companies, representing those commercial relationships that generate the most current and potential revenue.
- Staying on top of those relationships is important for your firm: CRM providers are starting to deliver new solutions to the market that encompass more detailed analytics on customers, including where they stack up versus their competition.
- Demonstrating your understanding of key accounts is more important than ever. Using technologyOpens a new window that can help you to provide insights to them that even they may not possess could represent that critical edge in keeping your key accounts over the long term.